Brothers Who Are Passionate Polo Players

The game of polo, popularly referred to as the Sport of Kings, is no doubt, a favourite pastime for some of Nigeria’s wealthy folks as the horses, critical to the success of the game do not come cheap and with some usually imported from as far as Argentina. This is besides bearing the cost of the horses’ groomers, trainers and the playing kit as well. Depending on how well heeled you are, you can take your addiction a notch further by setting up your own polo team, and becoming a proud patron of the sport.
Here below are a few affluent brothers who are hugely obsessed with the game of polo, all of who are members of the Lagos Polo Club, the premier polo club in the country

Habeeb and Mustafa Fasinro

While Mustapha is a wealthy oil trader and the CEO of Linetrale, a leading petroleum products supplier, Habeeb who is the older of the two, is the current president of Lagos Polo Club. A former House of Representatives member between 1999 and 2003 where he represented Eti-Osa Federal Constituency,Lagos State, in addition to his numerous private ventures, also owns Smooth FM, an urban radio station as well as the patron of the Linetrale/Trafigura Polo team. Habeeb and Mustapha whose father is Alhaji Hassan Fasinro, a former town clerk of Lagos City Council, are two brothers who are immensely passionate about the game.

Bode and Rotimi Makanjuola
These two silver spoon brothers are heirs to the Caverton Group, a $1 billion conglomerate with operations in gas distribution, offshore support vessels and aviation services. The brothers are the patrons of the Caverton Polo team. Their father, Remi Makanjuola, ranks as one of Nigeria’s wealthiest businessmen.

Kayode and Tayo Awogboro

While Kayode is a non executive director at Ark Insurance group, his brother, Tayo is a senior staff at Oando PLC. Their mother, Adetokunbo is fondly referred to as Nigeria’s first lady of nails on account of being a trail blazer in the nail business, a business she has since grown and positioned for even greater heights. Both brothers are members of the Goodfellow/Ark polo team. A few years ago, Kayode who is the senior of the two got married to Makashe, the first daughter of Oscar Ibru. Oscar made sure to give his daughter the wedding of her dreams. He flew more than 250 family members including domestic staff and friends to Paris to attend the wedding which held at one of the most fashionable churches in Paris, the Neo-Gothic Basilique Ste-Clotilde while reception held at one of the grandest event centres in Paris, Pavillion d’Armenonville. Guests stayed both in five and three star hotels.

Kola and Tunde Karim
Selected by the World Economic Forum as a global young leader in 2007, Kola Karim is one of the most popular polo players in Nigeria. At 41, the CEO of Shoreline Energy group, one of Nigeria’s most storied conglomerates with interests in everything from construction to oil servicing and trading is a patron of Shoreline Polo team. His brother who is also an ardent polo player is an investment analyst at MBC Securities.

Adeyemo and Yinka AlakijaThe Alakijas are synonymous with the game of polo, it is a family tradition as their great grandfather, grandfather and their own father are great and famous polo players. In fact, it is mandatory for every male child in the Alakija household to play polo. While Yinka who is the business manager at Pavilion Nigeria, a security and safety specialist, personally owns 13 horses which don’t come cheap, his brother, Adeyemo is the managing director of Riverlake group, a shipping business.